The All Star Classic is back and it will be going on tomorrow. We get to see multiple national champs take the mat and even a massive rematch of last years NCAA finals to close out the event.
How to watch: November 22nd 8pm EST on Flowrestling
Matches: (In Order)
125- Patrick McKee (Minnesota) vs Kysen Terukina (Iowa State)
McKee was originally slated to wrestle 2x All American Brandon Courtney of Arizona State. McKee defeated Courtney 8-3 for 5th place last season.
Terukina of Iowa State filling in for Courtney will be a massive test for him. Terukina has a win over All American Eric Barnett of Wisconsin but he also has a loss to unranked Eli Griffin of Cal Baptist. So with that being said in theory this should be a pretty dominant win for McKee.
133- Lucas Byrd (Illinois) vs Michael McGee (Arizona State)
McGee placed 4th at the national tournament last year while Byrd placed 5th. The last time these two wrestled was back in march of 2021 where Byrd won by fall.
157- Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) vs Will Lewan (Michigan)
The match here was originally Lewan vs Jacori Teemer which was a match that went down in the 5th/6th place match at nationals last season. Lewan won that match in overtime. With Teemer being out for what looks like it will be the season Andonian has been selected as a replacement.
Andonian is a just as good replacement being a 3rd place finisher down at 149 last season and this will be a fun match to watch.
141- Cole Matthews (Pitt) vs Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado)
This match was originally Cole Matthews vs Real Woods of Iowa in a rematch where Matthews won 7-3 for 5th place. Alirez of UNC will be filling in for him and he is a tough match despite never making the podium before.
191- Kelani Corbett (Missouri Valley) vs Sydnee Kimber (McKendree)
Corbett is a senior for the Missouri Valley Vikings and was a National Champion when she wrestled for Lyon. Kimber was a NCWWC National Champion for the McKendree Bearcats.
170- Yelena Makoyed (North Central) vs Jesaphine Lee (Life U)
Yelena Makoyed is one of the best women’s wrestlers in the country falling just short of making the 2022 World Team falling to Dymond Guilford but ended up avenging that loss at the Zouhaier Sghaier. Jesaphine Lee has been a consistent All American at the NCWWC Championships placing 5th and 4th respectively.
149- Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) vs Austin Gomez (Wisconsin)
With the way Austin Gomez looked against Yianni Diakomihalis it might be a long shot to say that Sasso has a chance here but anything can happen in this sport. Both of these guys have taken losses to freshman interestingly enough.
However head to head Gomez beat Sasso twice last season, once in the Big Ten finals and once at the national tournament.
184- Aaron Brooks (Penn State) vs Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)
This is a lot better of a match than people are giving it credit for. Last time these two wrestled it was 3-2 in favor of the 2x NCAA Champion Brooks. Keckeisen took third at the national tournament last year with his only loss coming to Bernie Truax of Cal Poly which he redeemed in the the 3rd/4th place match.
Brooks is of course the favor to win this bout but this will be a fun one to watch and maybe something crazy happens.
165- Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) vs Keegan O’Toole (Mizzou)
Dean Hamiti coming off of a 6th place finish as a true freshman will be taking on the reigning National Champion in Keegan O’Toole. O’Toole obviously going to be the favorite to win this one with Hamiti already having a loss to David Carr this season.
Should Hamiti somehow manage to pull this one out then all I can say is 165 is going to be a really fun weight to watch this season.
143- Aduago Nwachukwu (Iowa Wesleyan) vs Alara Boyd (McKendree)
Nwachukwu is bumping up a weight class to take on Boyd here which is going to put her at a disadvantage to begin with but looking at the pedigree of these two athletes it should be a fun match either way.
106- Peyton Prussin (Life U) vs Emily Shilson (Augsburg)
If you know women’s wrestling you know just how dominant Emily Shilson is and this match on paper should not really be too close and that is crazy to say when looking at Prussin’s resume.
165- Quincy Monday (Princeton) vs David Carr (Iowa State)
This might just be one of the biggest college matches of the season, a battle of legacies. Quincy Monday’s dad Kenny Monday was an Olympic Gold Medalist, Olympic Silver Medalist, World Champion, and World Silver Medalist.
David Carr’s dad Nate Carr was as Olympic Bronze Medalist and a World Cup Champion. Kenny and Nate would go back and forth on the collegiate scene and to see their sons going at it and things coming full circle will be a match to watch for sure.
Monday was a national finalist this past season losing to Ryan Deakin in the finals. Carr placed third in the same weight class shockingly falling in the round of 16 but pushing all the way back for 3rd place through the consolation bracket.
This match as of now would have to be a toss up to me but we shall see what happens.
197- Jacob Warner (Iowa) vs Rocky Elam (Mizzou)
This is another interesting match, on paper Warner is the clear favorite making the finals after beating Buchanan who has sort of been Elam’s kryptonite so far.
Warner should be the favorite to win here, and with these two never wrestling a college match against each other this one should be fun to watch. Both have looked very impressive so far this season.
285- Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) vs Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State)
Right now Kerkvliet is 0-3 against Cassioppi sure, but when we look at their last matchup Kerkvliet was winning and gave up a last second takedown and lost in overtime.
Looking forward to their first meeting of possibly many this season Kerkvliet looks healthy which we really have not seen from him, and Cassioppi looks solid as well. This will be a fun match to watch regardless of outcome and the game plan looks pretty simple for both guys.
Kerkvliet needs to get to his quick attacks and finish being the more athletic guy, also cannot afford to get ridden on bottom.
Cassioppi needs to get Kerkvliet into positions where he has the advantage such as upper body which he did very well. Whoever executes their game plan should win.
174- Carter Starocci (Penn State) vs Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech)
This is the match everyone has been waiting to see since they wrestled in the NCAA finals last season. Starocci won off of riding time in that match after it went the distance.
There has been a lot of talk from Starocci and this is where he needs to back it up. Looking at both of them so far this season Starocci looks much better as Mekhi had a 3-2 match with Ethan Smith of Ohio State.
However with all that being said this match should be close and may the better man win.
